


No One Knows It's You, Miss Jackson

by Carter_Casterwill



Series: Queen of Hearts (Celegiri list) [3]
Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Backstory, Because I totally didn't write 25 pages in Google docs for it, But Junko is working on being a better person, But she's trying to change, Celestia needs a hug, Developing Relationship, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Have fun with this book, Hurt, Hurt/Comfort, I mean, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Implied/Referenced Underage Sex, Kyoko being a good girlfriend, Nice Enoshima Junko, Pre-Relationship, So still despair obsessed Junko, The original male character doesn't end up with anyone i swear, The twins are mentioned - Freeform, This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, What Have I Done, Y'all aren't ready for the angst I pulled in this, Yeah these are all for Celestia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-03
Updated: 2019-05-03
Packaged: 2020-02-16 15:42:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18694456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Carter_Casterwill/pseuds/Carter_Casterwill
Summary: "Climbing out the back door, didn't leave a mark. No one knows it's you, Miss Jackson. Found another victim, but no one's gonna find Miss Jackson."OrKyoko gets a call at 1 in the morning only to find out that a 15-year-old girl named Taeko Yasuhiro, her Celestia Ludenberg, had disappeared. But upon looking into it more, Kyoko realizes that Celestia's reasons might be much bigger than simply attending a gambling tournament.If that's even where she is at all.





	No One Knows It's You, Miss Jackson

Kyoko Kirigiri got the call at 12:30 at night. It wasn’t much, just her and Celestia having a small conversation about their days. It was small talk, but Celestia didn’t sound like her normal self. Her voice was quieter than it usually was and it had lost the accent she normally carried. If anyone else had called her at 12:30, she would have told them to go back to bed. However, upon hearing her voice, Kyoko allowed Celeste to keep her up. It was the sacrifice she made for her friends.

Celestia made a comment about burning someone alive off to the side, typical Celeste talk, before telling Kyoko that she had to go and wished her sweet dreams. Before Kyoko could even say the same, Celestia had ended the call.  _ Is it just that I’m tired or is Celestia acting off? _ Kyoko’s mind shrugged it off, but her gut told her that something had to be wrong with her Gothic friend. Celestia wasn’t one to call at midnight, nor was she one to sound so vulnerable at any given time. She couldn’t force herself back to sleep when she noticed this. She had to figure out what caused her friend to act this way. This was not very Celestia Ludenberg of Celeste. It was almost as if she was someone else. Was she okay? Maybe she had just been tired. After all, it was 12:30 at night when she called.

It only took a few minutes after the call ended for Kyoko to get another one. It was the police station she was currently working at, though Kyoko bounced between a bunch of them. Too late, it was almost 1 in the morning, and now she was up. She pushed herself up into a sitting position and swung her feet over the side of the bed, pressing the screen against her cheek. “Kirigiri speaking. What is so important that you had to wake me at 1 in the morning?” There was a nervous sort of russell on the other side of the phone as if they didn’t really want to be calling her right now.

“We have a case for you. We just got a report of a 15-year-old girl by the name of Taeko Yasuhiro going missing.” Kyoko heart stopped. Celestia… Is that what was wrong? Was she missing and she had called her from somewhere else? But then why downplay it? Why did she act completely normal? “Her parents called and said that she had disappeared in a matter of ten minutes. No sign of a break-in, as far as they know, so they think she ran away… Are you still on?”

“Yes, yes, of course. I’m just… Ten minutes of space… She must have taken the window. I’ll go check it out. Do you have an address?” Kyoko asked this, but she already knew where she was going. In fact, she was already pulling her clothes on to head over there as they spoke. Still, she had no clue why Celestia would do something like this, not to mention she was one of the few people who knew that Celestia’s real name was Taeko Yasuhiro. She wanted to keep to her promise and keep it hidden. After she received the address, Kyoko thanked him and ended the call, writing a note to her grandfather and sticking it on the front door so he knew that she was out. 

After that, she went over to the Yasuhiro household, trying to call Celestia on her phone once again. She didn’t answer the first or the second time, or the third or fourth for that matter. But just as Kyoko was about to give up, since she had almost reached the house, Celestia picked up the phone.

“Hey, where are you?” Kyoko asked, stopping in front of a lamp post on the sidewalk. Celestia let out a small hum, as if she was teasing her a bit, before replying: “Well, where do you think I am?”

“Not at home.”

“You’re mistaken because I am definitely there.”

“Then why did I just get a call from the police station at 1 in the morning so that I could track down a Taeko Yasuhiro because she had disappeared from home?” Kyoko’s patience was thin, as it normally was when it came to the Gothic Lolita girl. She heard Celestia let out an exasperated sigh and she could hear the distress in her voice as she covered the microphone to the phone to say something to someone around her. “Are you out gambling again?”

“Actually, no, I’m not.”

“Are you lying?”

“I swear on everything I own that I’m not.”

“Then where are you?”

“It…” Celestia stopped speaking suddenly and it was like she was trying to stay silent. Kyoko stayed silent as well, more like she was waiting for Celestia to start speaking to her again. She would stay silent until she told her where she was. “It’s not any of your concern. Kyoko, don’t worry about it. Just make up some excuse on why you can’t find me.”

“Taeko Yasuhiro you better tell me where you are right now or I swear…”

“What did you just call me?” Celestia’s voice was cold and harsh, lost of the accent that it normally held. She sounded frustrated and upset like she wasn’t happy with her. “I beg your pardon, what did you just. Call. Me?” If Kyoko would have been with her, she certainly would be in for it. Celestia never had been mad enough to actually lay hands on anyone, however, Kyoko knew that she would have just been slapped in the face. “Who do you think you are, you have got to kidding with me! No one gave you permission to call me that. I know I didn’t! You know what, forget it. Just forget it. I’m just done with humans for today. Goodbye.”

The line went dead and Kyoko sighed, slipping her phone back into her jacket pocket before making her way to the door of the Yasuhiro house. She knocked on the door and a minute later, the door swung open. After explaining who she was and why she was here, she was invited into the house and up to Celestia’s room. Celestia’s room looked just like her. It was black, white, and red, with poker designs on photo frames that hung around the room in perfect order. The room’s walls were painted black with white accents and there were lacy curtains that covered the window at the back near the bed. Of course, the bed’s sheets were black and perfectly made. A worktable was in the corner of the room and looked like it was a sewing table. A sewing machine covered the top of it and black, pinned fabric lay next to it neatly as if she hadn’t had the chance to sew yet. Around the room were random, white mannequins adorned with black Gothic Lolita clothing, all outfits that Kyoko hadn’t seen Celestia ever wear. If she had any doubt that she was in the wrong place and she had known the wrong information, there was no question here that this was Celestia Ludenberg’s house.

Kyoko went over to one of the photographs in a frame, looking at it. The reason it demanded her interest was because it was so much different than the rest. While the rest of the photos were all gothic or poker related, this one had a photo of a young girl with long black hair and soft brown eyes, and a boy who looked a lot like her, just much older and with short hair. They were standing in front of a building and the boy had his arm around the girl. They were smiling and laughing, looking like they just had the best day of their lives. Kyoko thought she might have seen something familiar about the girl, so she looked at it closer, only to notice that the girl had a spray of freckles across her nose. Then it hit her.

That girl wasn’t some sibling of Celestia’s. It was Celestia. Well, the girl known as Taeko Yasuhiro. Kyoko could tell because she had seen the same smile on her friend’s face when she genuinely smiled, when she let out a real laugh around them. The same playful glint in her eyes was the same one that she had when she was teasing them, when she was playing a trick with or on them. That was Celestia and she looked truly happy.

Clearly, the person in the photo meant a lot to Celestia because it was positioned from where Celeste would be able to see it from her bed at night. That much was obvious. From where it was on the wall, she would be able to see it if she laid on her side. Kyoko needed to find out more about this boy. If he meant a lot to Celestia, then she might have run to him. So, she started to look around the room, seeing if there was anything to tell her the name of the boy. It didn’t take long to find it on the back of the photograph. The back read  _ “Hey, Celestia, found this picture when I was going through my room and it made me smile. And, just to let you know, I think Celestia Ludenberg is a beautiful name for you. Lots of love, your big brother, Chikao.” _

Kyoko had a name. Chikao Yasuhiro. He was Celestia’s older brother, she most likely would have gone to him if he was around. From what Celeste had said about her parents, they weren’t into her being a gambler, having someone tell her that they loved her persona’s name would most likely cause her to grow attached to them.

Going by looks, Celestia looked about 8 or 9 in the photograph, while Chikao looked about 15 or 16. That made him about 7 or 8 years older than Celestia herself was. He would, therefore, be in college and that narrowed her search a lot. Now, she only had to look for a Chikao Yasuhiro in thousands of colleges. That would only take… A long time. She supposed she could just google search him, but that would take a long time and it wasn’t always the most reliable option to take. Often times, you’d get things that you didn’t want when you did that. Another predicament that the Detective would have to get over. Kyoko let out a sigh and looked over at the photo again, hoping it might have some clue, but there wasn’t anything to help her out now.

She set her sights back at the room in front of her. There probably wasn’t anything in here to help her. Celestia was very precise about what was in her room and what she had in her vision. Something like a college wouldn’t be here in the room. She would have to look somewhere else. Still, maybe she could track the phone. She knew it wasn’t like in the movies where the police can track someone’s phone just by looking at the number, or whatever people thought they did. They could, however, track it from the most recent call that Celestia had picked up. Kyoko was aware of this and she knew that Celestia was not. That would mean she had the advantage. And, of course, she knew that she could expose if Celeste had been lying about the gambling or not.

From the call before the case one, she had a feeling that Celeste was not.

After thanking the Yasuhiro’s for the call and for letting her into the house, Kyoko took off running to the police department to see if they could track that call. Granted, she had all the information to get a lead on where she might be, but if it was going to be faster by doing this, that would mean she would be able to check on Celestia and make sure she was okay before being able to go back to bed. That is, of course, if Celestia wasn’t in trouble or she wasn’t caught illegally gambling again.

Surprisingly, Kyoko was able to track the call and it led her to a complex, allowing her to be inclined to believe that her theory was correct. After showing her badge and asking around, she was told that Chikao Yasuhiro, in fact, lived here and he was in apartment 351 and she made her way up there. What if Celestia was there. She was most likely upset with her. There would be no surprise if she was. After all, Kyoko had angered her and Celestia was one to keep grudges until they were paid off. She was most likely going to be on Celeste’s bad side for a while.

Kyoko knocked on the door to the apartment and stepped back. Of course, she realized it was now 1:34 in the morning and everyone was most likely asleep. The light dancing under the door clearly stated that not only was someone awake, but they were up and moving around. That was confirmed when the door swung open and she was faced with an adult who clearly matched the photograph from earlier. He had short black hair, close to a shave, and soft brown eyes. He looked tired and distressed, but wide awake at the same time. He smiled at Kyoko and it looked so genuine, she stopped for a second to wonder how he could ever be related to Celestia.

“Can I help you?” He asked, leaning against the door, mostly, blocking her from seeing the inside of it. It was subtle, but any good detective would see through it and know what he was doing. He was hiding something, or someone, that was inside the apartment. “You a little lost? It’s 1:30 at night, you must have gotten lost or something.”

“Actually, I am looking for someone named Chikao Yasuhiro and was told that this was his apartment. I’m Detective Kirigiri and I’ve come on a case.” Kyoko held up her badge to confirm who she was as she spoke. He seemed slightly surprised, but also not. He was so much different than his sister. Celestia could hide any emotion, but he seemed unable too.

“That would be me. Am I in trouble?” He asked, his posture tensing a bit as spoke. He remained leaning against the door though, still trying to hide whatever it was that was in there. Kyoko knew she was in the right place and silently thanked her grandfather for giving her all her detective skills.

“On the contrary, no. You’re not. I received a call 30 minutes ago that claimed a 15-year-old girl by the name of Taeko Yasuhiro had disappeared from home. I know that you are related to her, an older brother, given my investigation, and I’m led to believe that she retreated to here. I also know that she has a rough relationship with her parents and I figured that the first person she would retreat to would be you because you approve of her alias’s name of Celestia Ludenberg.” Kyoko laid everything out that she had discovered. The man’s face morphed from one of a slight shock to complete shock, too scared.

“How did you know about her na…”

“She told me herself.” Kyoko waved it off. “Will you let me in, or do I have to use my warrant. I know that Celestia is in there. The last phone call she made was in here and she doesn’t know that I can track. Therefore, she would have no reason to actually leave the place.”

“I…” He was cut off by the ever recognizable voice of Celestia Ludenberg exclaiming, “Frick you, Kirigiri. I hope you die in a fire.” After this, the older Yasuhiro stepped aside and let Kyoko into the apartment, shutting the door behind her. Kyoko thanked him and looked around the place, taking note that it looked just as you would expect one to be. It opened right into a living room, but it was empty.

Then, Kyoko found herself held against the wall, hands held above her head by two fragile hands. Black and a pale face met hers as the words “I will rip your tongue out” fell off the gambler’s lips before those lips pressed against the detective’s own ones. At first, Kyoko didn’t know what was happening, so she remained frozen. Celestia wasn’t pleased with the reaction, but she continued her assault on Kyoko’s lips, her tongue slipping out and pushing itself between Kyoko’s lips, running along the detective’s teeth.

_ Oh, gosh, she was serious. _ That’s what Kyoko thought as she started to push against Celestia’s arms, but soon, the other girl’s soft lips left her own and trailed down her face and neck. This once against left Kyoko shocked and she froze, not moving. How do you react to someone who just said they wanted to cut your tongue out who just started to kiss you right after. Celestia’s lips got lower and lower till she hit the sensitive skin on Kyoko’s neck and bit down on it. Hard. This was Celestia Ludenberg’s revenge. Kyoko’s eyes widened and she let out a gasp, unsure on how to act. Celeste’s teeth got tighter and tighter until Kyoko felt warm liquid start to trail down her neck. Kyoko squirmed under her and struggled against the girl who held her down, but Celestia only pulled away when she was satisfied with her reaction. Then, she turned and walked over to the couch, settling down.

As Kyoko’s hand went up to the bleeding mark on her neck, and Chikao started to fuss and scold Celeste, she studied the Gothic girl. It was easy to tell that she had been through a lot over the night. Her makeup was gone, revealing the freckled face that Kyoko had seen in the photo. Her eyes were red from crying, which was something that she had never seen the gambler do, and her hair was a bit of a mess. The gothic dress had been traded for red, silk pajamas, and she was currently wiping her chin on the back of her hand, catching the blood that had ended up on there from her assault on Kyoko’s neck.

“Here,” Chikao said as he handed Kyoko a paper towel. Kyoko thanked him and held it to her neck, pressing it against the new wound to stop it from bleeding. Celestia glared at Kyoko from under her eyelashes and, just to spite her more, casually licked her back of her hand at the blood. She was poking fun at Kyoko now. “I am so, so sorry about that.”

“It’s fine,” Kyoko replied, waving the topic off. “Celes has her own way of punishing people anyways. I shouldn’t be all that surprised. I did anger her earlier.” Kyoko pushed off against the wall and looked down at her gloves. The pink color was indeed on them and had run down her chest, staining her button up with the blood. “Could I get some hydrogen peroxide, please?” Chikao nodded and went to a cabinet. “Hey, Celestia? I’m really sorry about earlier. I really am.”

“Liar,” Celestia spat, glaring at her.

“I don’t lie and you know that. I am sorry. I was frustrated and concerned. You disappeared at 1 in the morning. When we called earlier, you seemed off. Can you blame me for being frustrated at you?”

“Beg.”

“Pardon?” Kyoko asked as Chikao handed her hydrogen peroxide and some cotton balls. She thanked him for it and watched as he sat down next to his sister.

“Just as I said. Beg for it.”

“Not going to happen, Celestia. You can’t get me to do anything.” Kyoko’s voice was harsh and cold. She was done playing Celestia’s games and wanted to get this over with. Celestia scoffed and rose to her feet, turning to leave the room. She bid her brother and Kyoko a bitter goodnight and went into a bedroom, shutting the door behind her. Kyoko sat down in a chair and opened the peroxide, dumping some onto the cotton ball and dabbed at the blood that was starting to stain her shirt. It caused the blood to start to disappear as if it had never existed.

“I’m really sorry about her,” Chikao apologized, looking over at the door that Celestia had disappeared behind. “She’s had a rough day. She’s normally not like this, but you probably already know that. How do you know each other anyway?” He looked really upset and concerned for the detective who was on the case to find the girl who just attacked her. But if what he said about Celeste having a rough day was true, then Kyoko had a feeling this was bigger than just running away.

“School. We’re in the same class at Hope’s Peak. She’s one of my friends, which is why she knows she can bite me like that and I won’t flip out on her.” Kyoko’s tone was neutral and she continued to dab at the blood till it had all disappeared. “She’s an interesting character, for sure, but it is my fault for angering her, so it’s not a big deal. Celestia does have anger-issues and everyone in our class knows that.”

“I still apologize. I should have tried harder to help her with that.” He shrugged it off, but Kyoko didn’t mind it at all. Celestia’s attitude is part of what made her Celestia Ludenberg. Besides, it shouldn’t even be his job to make sure that Celestia temper was under control. That was the parents’ jobs. Things were just piling up and Kyoko knew she was starting to doubt the Yasuhiro family quite a bit.

“It’s no big deal. I am hoping that you will talk to me,” Kyoko replied as she replaced the paper towel with a cotton ball and hydrogen peroxide. The bite mark stung, but she played it off. It was completely fine. “I’m starting to think that this case is much deeper than just a simple running away stunt. It’s unlike Celestia and I know that. But if you won’t talk to me as a detective, please think of it as a conversation with a concerned friend. Celes is worrying me and I want to find out what’s going on with her. So, please, tell me your side of things.”

“Wouldn’t you like to talk to Celeste about this?” He asked, looking over at the door that the mentioned female had disappeared behind. Kyoko shook her head. It was honestly better that Celestia had walked away. This way, Kyoko would hear more sides of the same story and none of them would be biased based on the people in the room. Of course, this meant that she would have to return to the Yasuhiro household and question the parents, but that was fine. So long as she figured out the truth about what was going on.

“I would rather hear your opinion on what is going on without the influence of anyone else. So, if she’s out of the room and I swear that she won’t know anything that you say, you will be able to tell me what you think on everything.” Kyoko explained exactly what she thought. He seemed to understand what she was saying and sighed, fiddling with his hands.

“It’s a… Well, it’s a long, long story,” He said, looking up at her. Kyoko gave him an encouraging nod.

“I’ve got all night.”

* * *

 

Kyoko had gone home at 3 in the morning. The devil’s hour. How ironic. The story that Chikao had told her tossed back and forth in her brain as she tried to wrap her mind around it all. He hadn’t known everything and he said as much. If Kyoko wanted to know more, then she should ask Celestia. Currently, the gambler was still ticked at her and she had gone to bed long before the detective had even left. But for now, her hypothesis was getting confirmed. But a hypothesis could never be fully confirmed until it became a theory, then a law. That’s how science worked.

And in the detective world, it was mostly the same.

Kyoko took her note down from the door and threw it away after she entered the house. Then, she slipped off her shoes and sat down in a seat at the dining room table, thinking through the conversation she had just had once more in her head.  _ “She’s always done this. It’s not her fault though.” _ That was certainly an interesting thing to say about Celestia. She was the type of person who seemed to be in control of everything in her life and had it all be intentional. How much of Celestia life was a lie and how much of it was the truth?

Her phone buzzed and Kyoko pulled it out of her pocket. She had one new message on her class’s group chat ‘Slut Protection Squad’. Junko had come up with the name, meaning that Togami was the slut and it was to make fun of him more. Only one person would be texting at 3 in the morning and that was the Queen of Despair herself. So, she opened the message to see what Junko was on about now.

**Despair Queen:** _ I’m boooored and an Insomniac tonight. Is anyone on or are y’all asleep? _

**Detective Purple Hair:** _ Junko, private chat. I’ll talk to you. _

**Wolfie:** _ I’m up now too. Private group chat? _

**Despair Queen:** _ And spam Celes? Yes please! _

Kyoko let out a small smile and waited for Junko to message her on their private group chat. Soon after they had all become friends, Junko had made a group chat for them and named it ‘We’re all dead anyway.’ The name hadn’t changed and they were all fine with it. To be honest, any chat they had was nuts in its own way. Everyone was really bizarre at her school and they just embraced it.

**Crazy Queen:** _ M’kay, guess who has insomnia again?! _

**Property of Miss J:** _ You? Junko, it’s 3 in the morning. _

**Miss I-Touch-Dead-Bodies:** _ And so you decided to text? _

**Crazy Queen:** _ Pretty much. Why are you up, Kyoko? It’s 3 in the morning. _

_**Miss I-Touch-Dead-Bodies:** Celestia called me at 12:30 at night, then I got a call at 1 with a case and I was working on that until just now. _

**Crazy Queen:** _ Ugh, that’s a boring reason. What about you, Nee-chan? _

**Property of Miss J:** _ Same as always. Still on the military schedule. _

**Crazy Queen:** _ Both of you are boring. _

_**Miss I-Touch-Dead-Bodies:** Not very nice, Junko. _

**Ace, Queen:** _ Why are you all awake at 3:10 in the morning. Stop spamming me and go back to sleep. _

**Crazy Queen:** _ I’m bored. _

**Crazy Queen:** _ And… _

_**Crazy Queen:** Spam _

**Crazy Queen:** _ Spam _

**Crazy Queen:** _ Spam _

**Crazy Queen:** _ Spam _

**Crazy Queen:** _ Spam _

**Crazy Queen:** _ Spam _

**Crazy Queen:** _ Spam _

**Crazy Queen:** _ Spam _

**Crazy Queen:** _ Spam _

**Property of Miss J:** _Junko, stop._

**Ace, Queen:** _ I swear y’all will be the death of me. _

**Miss I-Touch-Dead-Bodies:** _ Hey, Celestia. _

**Ace, Queen:** _ Hello, Kirigiri. _

**Crazy Queen:** _ Oof, last name basis again. What happened between the two of you? _

**Ace, Queen:** _ Someone decided to call me Taeko Yasuhiro for no reason. _

**Miss I-Touch-Dead-Bodies:** _And I said I was sorry._

**Ace, Queen:** _ And I still call lies. _

**Crazy Queen:** _ Teea. _

**Property of Miss J:** _ Ooh. I see. Looks like everyone’s got issues. _

**Ace, Queen:** _What do you mean?_

**Property of Miss J:** _Earlier, on our chat, Maizono and Naegi got into a fight._

**Crazy Queen:** _ More teea. _

**Miss I-Touch-Dead-Bodies:** _ That’s a shocker. Anyway, I’m going to bed. I have more work to do tomorrow for my case. _

**Crazy Queen:** _ Night, Kyoko! _

**Property of Miss J:** _ Goodnight, Kyoko. _

**Ace, Queen:** _ Night. _

Kyoko shut her phone off and flipped the phone on silent so that she wouldn’t receive any more buzzing or flashes of light as her friends continued to text. Her friend group… It was definitely one of the weirder ones at the school. She supposed it was because they were the outcasts of their grade. Sure, their grade was tight and they all were pretty close to each other, but then push came to shove, they were the ones left out. It had been Celestia’s compulsive lying that had pushed her out. No one trusted her anymore and no one had a reason to. After her, it had been Kyoko who had become an outcast. If wasn’t like Kyoko was anything like Celestia, but she was always one to turn down get together requests and she was the headmaster’s daughter, which put up a mental barrier between people. Then, Junko had thrown herself into their lot and dragged her sister right along with her. After that day that no one would forget, the day she exposed herself as the psychopath she had hidden from everyone, she was too looked down on, but in a different way. People were too cautious around her and she had hated that. So, she turned to the two people who had been there for her after that breakdown.

Mukuro had followed her like the loyal sister she was.

Kyoko made it to her room and slipped back into her pajamas once again. She shrugged everything off and cleared her mind, laying down in her bed. She needed to get all the sleep she could in order to do her best on the case, but she couldn’t seem to shake any of those events of the night off. Cases never disturbed her this deeply before. She had never lost sleep over something like this. The intensity in Celestia’s eyes as she glared at her from across the room, wiping that blood off of her chin. That image was burned into her eyes. The mark was still raw on her neck, straining and threatening to bleed once more every time Kyoko turned her head.

_ ‘Celeste… She’s been through a lot. A lot of things that a girl her age shouldn’t have to deal with.’ _

Kyoko wanted to help Celestia, she really did. But how could she earn the Lolita’s respect back? How could she get Celestia to accept her apology and get her to open up once again to her? She couldn’t get the information that she needed any other way. If she wanted the facts, she needed Celestia to give them to her in her own words. Still, what could she do? What had she done before that earned Celestia’s respect?

As Kyoko drifted off into a restless sleep, an idea finally popped into her head. Keep Talking and No One Gets Hurt. It had worked before, maybe it would work again. After all, Celestia was mostly unbeatable at just about any game. If you get close to beating her, well, you earned her respect. Kyoko had only managed to do it once…

Could she do it again?

The next morning, Kyoko woke up around 7:30 am. She had gotten another 4 hours of sleep, which was good. Still, that meant that she’d gotten some sleep. That’s all she had asked for anyway. Today, she was back on the case, back in Detective Kirigiri mode. Today was the day that she went back on the case to figure out what was going on with the Yasuhiro family, and to discover the truth behind Celestia’s running away. Why someone of her prowess would run away like that, Kyoko was bound to find out. It was very un-Celestia of her to do.

But what would Taeko Yasuhiro do in that situation? Taeko Yasuhiro was a mystery to everyone. Given the way Celestia treated her, she was probably even a mystery to herself. Fight or flight was a mysterious thing. It caused people to do things they normally wouldn’t do. Celestia never backed down from a challenge, but if she was in the mind of Taeko, if she had been able to let her guard down in her room and be able to process things without the Celestia mask, would she have chosen flight instead of fight?

Kyoko dressed herself, black leggings with a lavender dress and her normal purple leather jacket. Her outfits mostly consisted of purple and the reason was solely so that she could match them with her gloves and the gloves wouldn’t look so weird. Her insecurities revolved around the secret that the gloves kept hidden from everyone but the few people she had trusted to know. Some of those people she wasn’t sure if she had made the right decision with. Most of her life was a mistake after all. One mistake after the next, it seemed like. She could never get it right. As a detective, that frustrated her.

Kyoko looked down at her phone to see what she had missed on her friends’ group chat to find out that it had been a lot. Apparently, Celestia had gone to bed about 2 hours ago, meaning that she was most likely still asleep. The phone showed that Junko was still on and awake, meaning the insomniac hadn’t slept at all. Which meant poor Mukuro hadn’t gotten any sleep either. There were times that Kyoko really pitied that girl, being caught in a cycle of wishing her sister would have a good day so that she wouldn’t get in trouble or being forced to stay up all night because her sister had a good day and now couldn’t sleep. Still, there wasn’t much to do for the raven-haired girl when Kyoko knew she couldn’t jeopardize anything.

There was so much that this year had taught Kyoko about herself and the world and most of that was about how useless she found herself when it came to her friends’ issues. Each one of her closest friends was going through something and there appeared to be nothing she could do about it. Everyone knew about Junko and Mukuro’s, she was slowly figuring out Celestia’s, and there was nothing she could do about it. Kyoko wanted to help them, she really did. Maybe that was why she had taken that call at 1 in the morning. Maybe that was why she decided to stay up late and take a case that she knew would expose the secrets of her friend. Kyoko might have upheld the stone cold mask that everyone saw, but deep down, she only wanted to help the people who made her feel welcome for the first time in forever.

In fact, Kyoko would do anything for any of her classmates, even Togami. Sure, some of them were annoying or had proven to be a nuisance to her on multiple occasions, but the idea of leaving the school and her classmates seemed to upset her. Was it the idea of having friends that made her comfortable at the school? Or maybe it was the fact that this school was different than her last. This school was for people who had talents that were just as crazy or bizarre as her own. Gambler, Pop Star, Martial Artist… These weren’t common things people did at her old school. Being a detective meant that people figured she was in a league of her own, that they couldn’t even try to interact with her like she was a normal high school girl. Thrown in a place where everyone had gone through that, where they were the outsider or put up on a pedestal because of their talents, it was no wonder that they managed to find comfort in the world of theirs. They were all teenagers who just wanted to be teenagers, not some sort of advanced human that everyone thought they were.

Still, it was time for Kyoko to figure out the case. She did really want to help Celestia and so, she was doing it the only way she knew. It was about 7:40 now. She had wasted ten minutes getting dressed and still had other things to do before she could leave, such as brush her hair and gather her things. Most of her things were together, but with the chaos of the night before, she might have put something out of place and wanted to make sure she had for when she went out on the case, just to make sure that everything would go smoothly. If she didn’t, she wouldn’t feel prepared for the case.

Of course, before that, there was the task of brushing her hair. To be fair, it was probably most logical for Kyoko to just cut it all off and not have to worry about it in the mornings or during missions, but for some reason, she found herself unable to do that. There was something about her lavender hair that made it physically impossible for her to bring herself to cut it all off. She would always say that she was going to do it, but when she had free time to actually do it, she found herself unable to do it. She sighed and tried to brush her hand through it, but only to get her hand stuck in the process. She must have had a rough four hours of sleep and she simply just didn’t remember it.

Looks like it was a braid day. Kyoko walked onto the bathroom and grabbed her hairbrush, starting from the bottom of her hair and slowly rising to the top of her head. Her hair was always child’s play to brush through because the knots and tangles fell out easily. The issue was always that it was so long that Kyoko had issues braiding it herself. It would always knot at the bottom while she was in the middle of the braid so it would have to be brushed through again and that was never helpful. When she was in middle school, and around her detective friend, Yui Samidare, she would always get Yui to braid her hair for her. It looked like she was here by herself now and she needed to do her hair.

Kyoko tied her hair in a ponytail once she had brushed all the way through it and started to the difficult task of braiding her hair away from her face. She supposed she could just leave it in a ponytail, but she was the type of person to complete something when she had already decided to do it. Since her hair was probably the one thing she really struggled with in her life, it frustrated her that she couldn’t do it well. Her gloved hands separated the hair into three sections and started to braid them together. She did her best despite the static electricity from her gloves causing the hair to fry a bit as she worked, but her stubbornness wouldn’t let her take them off.

When she was done and the braid was satisfactory for her, Kyoko tied off the end of it with a rubber band and tied her black ribbon around the top rubber band that held it in a ponytail. There, she was almost set now. After gathering her things, she called “I’m going out on a case!” to her grandfather before shutting the door behind her. The outside was rather nice for a spring day, much to Kyoko’s relief. She wanted to walk everywhere today instead of having to take a bus.

First stop on her list; the Yasuhiro household. Kyoko knew that Celestia was most likely still asleep right now, therefore, she decided to let her remain asleep. She had at least two other stories to listen to other than Celeste’s, and it was only fair that she heard the parents’ stories before she made assumptions and did something drastic, no matter how much she wanted too. What she had heard from Chikao was… How to put it? Inhumane? Barbaric? Just plain old cruel? Kyoko didn’t know the whole story, nor did she know everything she had heard was the truth at all, but she was determined to find out.

_ “I think she chose Celestia over Taeko because as Celestia, she could pretend all those things never existed. Even if she plays it off as nothing, I still believe it’s something.” _

* * *

 

She arrived at the Yasuhiro household in about 20 minutes, a nice walk for the day. Kyoko knew that the houses all looked fairly nice, but lots of crime happened in this part of town. She locked that in her mind and swore to never reveal that information to her classmates. They’d laugh at the thought of their self-proclaimed Queen living in such an awful part of town. Celestia would have her head, that was for sure. Of course, the detective had no intention of humiliating her friend on any account, except to call her out for lying.

She knocked on the door and was greeted in a more confused tone than she had last night. Maybe the Yasuhiro's was wondering why she was back. Of course, she explained that she was still on the case and then, they asked her if she had found Celestia. Taeko, they called her and Kyoko had to remind herself to call her Taeko before it slipped out of her mouth and she exposed that she knew of the mentioned female’s vulgar habits. Once she had explained why she was here, they seemed a little more relaxed and gladly told her their story.

It was off… Something about the way they were talking was off. She had talked to only one at a time. Things didn’t add up, they contradict each other, contradicted the story by Chikao, and of course, contradicted against things Celeste herself had told Kyoko weeks and months before this mess. Things were not right with this family. Too many lies, too much distrust. Kyoko needed to figure out what was happening and why there were so many lies exchanged. So many untrustworthy stories in this place.

More than anything, she wanted to bring up the facts that she had received last night. Celestia’s state when she had sat on the couch. Her crimson eyes filled with tears that she was so desperately trying to hide. Her tired eyes, the fearful look, her aggression that was more than normal, nothing was adding up and Kyoko wanted to figure out what they thought of that. Did they know about it? Did she leave before they knew about that? More importantly, there was a bigger question at hand.

What was the real reason that Celestia Ludenberg ran from home?

That was the question that Kyoko wanted to answer and so far, nothing was adding up the way she wanted. It was a chain reaction. No one just ran away on a split decision like that. Running away was a big deal and a major thing. People thought threw it, had reasons to leave. There had to be a reason that she left, and it certainly wasn’t just a heat of the moment type of thing. It wasn’t like Celestia at all, so what exactly had gone down?

Kyoko thanked them for their cooperation and left the house with a sigh. There was a lot of things going through her mind, trying to figure it all out. This… This was definitely much bigger than it was originally thought to be. If it wasn’t, then the stories would have lined up. If it wasn’t, it wouldn’t make her think this much about it. If it wasn’t, Celestia wouldn’t have run away like that. How many times had she thought about how unlike Celestia it had been? Way too many times. She just couldn’t move past the thought of how this wasn’t the Celestia she knew. It was bothering her.

She needed to figure it out now. Kyoko pulled out her phone and opened Celestia’s profile to text her. They texted a lot over the breaks they had gotten from school, but over the past few days, it had been relatively dead. Not just because of the mishap from last night, but also because of how Celestia was always the one to text her first. Celestia had stopped texting her as often as she did, and so, Kyoko didn’t remember to text her. Their conversations from when Celestia did text her were short and had no meaning, sometimes didn’t get past asking how the other was doing. But now, for probably the first time in a long time, Kyoko was the first to text her.

**KK:** _ Hey, Celestia. I understand you must be pretty upset with me at the moment, and I don’t blame you. I really messed up last night and I really am sorry that I messed up like that. I had no business calling you by that name. I won’t even ask for forgiveness, because I know you are still really mad at me. But I do have a request. I am still on your case and I haven’t told anyone I know where you are, so you don’t need to worry about being found out. However, I am speculating that this is much more than a simple running away and I do want to get to the bottom of whatever if going on with you and your family. You are the last person I need to talk with to start putting the pieces together, I believe, so I have a proposition. I know you don’t like talking about yourself or your past for no reason, so how about a game? Keep Talking and No One Gets Hurt. Just like last time. How does that sound? You don’t have to do it today, just whenever you’re ready. Just let me know whenever that is. _

Kyoko sighed as she sent that, reading over the whole thing again. It was too late to take it back. Was she going to be mad that Kyoko was assuming these things about her? Was she going to go along with it? Would Celestia even look at it at all? That was probably the most concerning part. The gambler was an unpredictable girl. She could do anything. So, was she mad enough at Kyoko for calling her by her real name or had she moved past. If she didn’t get a text back in the next few hours, she would know.

Celestia’s response came faster than she expected.

**Cards Liquor:** _ Kyoko, I do suppose I should apologize myself. My brother explained what he told you last night, so I cannot blame you for being curious. I am terribly sorry for making you go through with this investigation, but I do suppose a game of Keep Talking would be nice. When shall we play? _

Kyoko found herself smiling a bit to herself as she read over the text. While significantly shorter than the former’s, Celestia had gotten over her ego enough to admit that she was sorry as well, though she never outright said why. It was a start, and what Kyoko had expected from her Lolita friend. Celestia’s nature was to never give up until she was sure that there was no way that she could win.

**KK:** _ Would it be possible for you to meet me at that coffee shop in town by 3? I think that should be plenty of time to prepare. _

**Cards Liquor:** _ Ooh? Is someone determined to beat me? _

**KK:** _ I don’t intend to lose to you. _

**Cards Liquor:** _ And I don’t lose. _

Kyoko left the app and looked at the time. 12 pm. She definitely had three hours to kill and she figured she could use that time to go home and put pieces together. She could start without Celestia’s story and that way, if she did end up losing to the Highroller, she would at least have some details lined up to come to a conclusion. Though, she had a feeling that if she did win (however unlikely it was), she would have no reason to do all this extra work and Celestia would have just given it to her straight. That seemed like her, after all.

_ “I don’t blame you if you don’t believe a word I say. Celes… She’ll do her best to rebuttal what I say in order to protect herself. She’s not one to give up. But you should know that if you’re friends with her. It’s just… I hate the way they treat her.” _

* * *

 

It was time. Kyoko and Celestia often came to this coffee shop with the twins, so when she stepped up to the counter to get herself a coffee, all she had to say was a regular for herself and her Lolita friend. They knew exactly what she wanted and how they wanted it. After all, they were here at least once a week with the twins. As she waited to get the drinks, she looked around, trying to see if she could spot Celestia. She knew exactly where Kyoko wanted them to meet. She should be here a little after 3. She had a thing for dramatic entrances, after all. With it being three now, she had no choice but to wonder when she would be here.

By the time it was 3:10 and Kyoko had settled at their normal table with her coffee and Celestia’s tea, Celestia decided to show up. The most obvious thing was that she wasn’t alone, but with her brother. She probably had him bring her. Celestia didn’t seem like the type of person who would just decide to walk here. Next was that she was lacking her twin drills that she always seemed to wear. Now, she was left in a short bob much like Mukuro’s was. The hair in her face had been pulled back with a hair tie and a white bow rested over it to make it look like it was held with a ribbon only. Last, but not least, her outfit was vastly different than Kyoko was used to seeing her friend in. The dress was black, of course, but it went to her knees and was much flowier than the outfit she typically wore. It was also much more simple. The top part of it had a criss-cross pattern of white ribbon with a small bow at the bottom of it to finish it off. To top it all off, she had continued the tradition of long sleeves and it pulled the whole dress together. Kyoko rolled her eyes a bit as Celestia made her way over to their table with her brother. Of course, she was in her typical attire. She expected nothing less from the scandalous queen of liars herself.

“Aw, I see you got me tea!” Celestia said with a giggle as she sat down across of Kyoko. “You spoil me, Kyoko… Chikao, sit down. It won’t bite.” Celestia patted the seat next to her delicately so that her brother would sit by her. He complied and sat down next to her. Celestia covered her mouth as she let out a tiny giggle at him before raising her teacup to her mouth and taking a sip from it.

“Of course I do, though I highly doubt you deserve it,” Kyoko replied as she wrapped her hands around her coffee mug and raised it to her own lips. Celestia gave her one of her signature smiles, resting her chin on her hands.

“Do you not trust me, detective?”   
  
“Someone’s in a much better mood than they were.”

“I thought about my actions and decided to change.”

“You liar.” Celestia let out another smile giggle, covering her mouth once again like she always did. Kyoko rolled her eyes a bit and turned her attention away from the Lolita girl. It was true that she spoiled her, but she didn’t know what would make Celestia worse or what would just pamper her. Not yet, anyway. Instead of focusing on that, she looked at over at her girl’s brother and nodded at him. He gave her a small, awkward smile back and nodded his head as well.

“Did she make you come along with us?” Kyoko asked, more curiously. Chikao shook his head in response. He wasn’t dragged. Of course. Celestia hardly even dragged Yamada with her places unless she knew that she would need his assistance in whatever she was planning on doing for the day. It was just like her. All of this was just like her. None of this was out of Celestia abilities and ideals. What happened last night was so unlike Celestia that it just seemed to make sense to believe that she had let her guard down long enough for Taeko Yasuhiro to do the thinking. Flight had beaten her self-control for fight. Celestia was a fighter. Taeko was not.

“No, I strictly remember her saying ‘I’m going to meet Kyoko for a game, so don’t worry too much if I’m gone’. And so I decided that I didn’t want to leave her walking by herself and so, I drove her here.” His reason didn’t seem like it would be a big deal, but given the story he told, it made more sense to Kyoko. He didn’t want to leave her alone long enough to get hurt. Love was a powerful thing.

“And then you said you were coming and I made it very clear on how you had no reason to come all the way here for no reason, but you still came anyway,” Celestia pointed out, raising her cup to her lips once again. The black haired boy chuckled a bit and nodded his head. “Well, it is alright because he can be our overseer. Is that alright, Kyoko?” The tone she was asking in was sweet and sugary. The way she sugarcoated her words made Kyoko realize that she didn’t have an option. Why she wanted Chikao to be the overseer, she didn’t know, but Kyoko knew that it wasn’t to cheat. Celestia Ludenberg never cheated and Kyoko knew she wouldn’t sink so low as to cheating to hide her secrets.

“That sounds just fine, Celes,” Kyoko replied with a nod of her head. Celestia smiled and turned to explain the game to her brother while Kyoko sipped her drink. The game, Keep Talking and No One Gets Hurt, was not that hard for people to catch onto. They had made the game much simpler than the game was originally. It was literal and was meant to be a trust exercise, basically putting it. You had to trust the other people you were playing with because they could ask for any secret and you would have to share it. She knew she had humiliated Celestia the first time they played without any intention of doing so. She didn’t want to redo that, but she did want to figure out her friend’s intention when she ran away.

Once Chikao had gotten a basic grasp of his role in their little game, they started. Topics were interesting, to say the least. Their preferred drink was one, favorite subjects in school, favorite things about their talents, but eventually, they got harder and harder to talk about. Nevertheless, neither of them had any intention of giving up. Kyoko was sure that she had never talked so much in her life. This must have been the most talking she’d ever done in a long time. Where their game had lasted 7 rounds last time, this one was going on 16, all for if Kyoko would get to hear Celestia’s side of the story or not.

Then, suddenly, the game came to an abrupt stop.

“Celestia, tell us about the first time you ever gambled and how you figured out you were good at it for the next 5 minutes,” Chikao asked, the expression on his face clearly showing that he did not know the answer to this and how he planned on asking a similar question to Kyoko when she finished. The color in Celestia’s face drained and her normally stoic facade faded into one of either shock or fear. She did not want to talk about that, and if she did not do it, she would lose. It was almost like a catch 22. If she talked, everything would be exposed, if she didn’t, she would be forced to share anyway.

“It appears… I have lost…” Celestia said with a tight smile. She tensed up, like a cat who had just been splashed with water. Kyoko cocked her head to the side a bit, watching her movements. Celestia loved to brag about her skills, so watching unable to brag about such a thing was a little more than a shock. “Yes… You have put me in a box. I have lost.”

“What do you mean you lost?” Kyoko asked, more confused as to why she was acting as if she had just lost some really bad game and was going to die. “We haven’t even started the round yet?” But she was a detective, after all, so she was slowly putting the pieces together in her head. Celestia shook her head firmly and placed her hands in her lap like the proper person she was trying to be.

“You seem to be figuring it out, love. What I said is what I mean. You have put me in a box, my dear brother. If I answer the question, I tell Kyoko the answer as to why I ran away. If I don’t, well, I’ve lost the game, haven’t I?” She gave another tight smile, one that seemed like it was just a smile. Kyoko knew differently. She had learned how to read Celestia slowly over their time of knowing each other. Celestia was already admitting defeat because she knew that she couldn’t win this. It had been a good fight. They had really been at this for a while. As was expected, once Celestia had lost, she lost and accepted it. She was never a sore loser and people knew that. “So, I fold.” 

Celestia let out a light chuckle, looking down at her hands. “How is it possible that I find myself losing to you for the second time in this game?” She let out another giggle and covered her mouth with her hand like she always did. She looked normal, she looked fine, like it wasn’t bothering her at all that she had forfeited from the game. But, Kyoko knew differently. She had seen that look before. She knew how much Celestia hated to lose and how much it hurt her pride. “You know, Kyoko, for a quiet girl, you sure are good at holding conversations. What is it that Junko called it? Balls to the walls and you don’t screw around.” Kyoko shrugged her shoulders to shrug it off. Junko had said that about her whenever she was being stubborn.

“Now you have to tell me your side of the story.” Kyoko leaned back in her seat, pulling out her phone to record the conversation as she had done with everyone else. Celestia took a shaky breath in, her smile never fading, but the falseness in it grew more and more every passing minute. Kyoko sighed, taking it as a sign that it was time to talk, and waved Chikao away to get a drink or something so that she could talk to Celestia alone. There was nobody to push bias in Celestia story now. “Alright, Celestia, now it’s just the two of us. You have no reason to have any bias towards anyone for your story, so you can tell me exactly what you think of it without fear of making anyone else mad. I can promise that whatever you tell me will not reach anyone else’s ears. It’s your right.”

“Put your phone away then,” Celestia replied, getting comfortable in her seat. Kyoko tilted her head, confused about why she had been given the command. “Oh, come on. I know you were going to record it. I don’t want you to do that.”

“It’s protocol,” Came the expected response.

“Forget the protocol. If I’m going to tell you, you will be the only person who ever hears this. So long as it’s recorded, someone else has the possibility of hearing it.” Kyoko slipped her phone back into her pocket, respecting Celestia’s wishes, and nodded her head, waiting for Celestia to tell her story. Celestia remained silent for a few minutes. Her elbows rested on the table and her chin lay in her folded hands. Her crimson eyes were shut as she tried to figure out the right way to word what she wanted to say. “Alright, well, I would start with why I ran away, but that wouldn’t quite satisfy you and leave you with more questions, so I guess I’ll just tell you everything.” Celestia let out one more shaky breath and opened her eyes, dropping her hands down into her lap in a neat, folded manner.

“Okay… Okay, I was born as Taeko Yasuhiro, but you know that. It was a picture-perfect family, my parents, my brother, and me. But, my parents didn’t want a girl. It was my brother who egged them on about keeping me around and made sure I stayed alive. They randomly chose the name Taeko, leaving little significance behind the name.” Kyoko stayed silent as Celestia leaned back in her seat. “But I guess I never really realized that this wasn’t normal family behavior. I guess I never even thought about it being odd that my brother was the one to raise me. He was always there for me. The times the storms scared me, when I wanted to play games, it was my brother, never my parents. It was all I had known.

“I didn’t realize something was wrong until I was about four years old. We were playing a game of memory in the kitchen. My parents had people over, but I don’t remember what they were doing. We were just playing quietly together, minding our own business. Chikao had just gotten a match, a pair of cats, and I was just reaching for the match to a heart that he had failed to find.” Kyoko was only slightly surprised by the fact that Celestia had been able to remember exactly what cards had been played during whatever event that was about to take place. Besides the fact that she was the Ultimate Gambler, studies had proven that when a big event happens, people could remember exactly what had happened to them in the moments leading up. This was only proved more by the fact that Celestia could remember what had happened despite her only being four at the time it had occurred.

“I… Well… Oh, geez. I don’t suppose I’ve told anyone about this before.” As she spoke, Celestia slumped over into a position that no one had really ever seen her in before. She looked completely and one hundred percent defeated. “Well, they called me into the living room and I went, not understand that something might be wrong. Apparently, my parents had lost a bet and instead of being sensible, they… lost me… for the rest of the night…” Celestia took a deep breath in and calmed herself down before continuing. “Chikao got all upset and mad, so I think the guys took pity on me and I only got out with a few bruises. Funny what drunk men can do.” A small scoff. “It’s funny, but in a sad sort of way. Ironic, I guess. Like father, like daughter. My brother had been crying for me afterward. I remember him keeping me in his room that night, muttering about how much he hated the way they treated me.

“After that, Kindergarten started and I was exposed to people other than my brother. I made friends rather quickly. I’m still friends with one of them, in fact. My brother would walk me to class every day and pick me up once it ended. Apparently, he made himself late every morning to take me. Dedication right there. I was such a drag to him, but he didn’t seem to care. He sacrificed so much for me when I was younger, I could never repay him.

“The bettings never really stopped. By the time I was seven, well… I learned what it was like to have your dignity stripped away over and over again. Chikao… He barely knew what was going on. He was fifteen and had gotten a job at night, so he wasn’t around when I was left screaming all those nights. It’s funny, really. I relied on no one but him, then when I needed him the most, he wasn’t around. Life’s funny like that, isn’t it? It takes what it wants until you have nothing and are forced to accept the harsh reality. Week after week, I was tied down, abused, and violated until I eventually learned that Chikao would not be coming to save me from this. I decided to just accept it, and so… I saved my throat from getting sore from screaming and my wrists would only be slightly rubbed raw instead of bleeding.

“My first poker game… I played to spare myself for the night.” Another scoff, a light chuckle. “Ironic, really. I wanted to be left alone, just for one night. I was nine, I barely knew how to play. At the time, I only knew that folding meant dropping from the round and 3-in-a-row was better than 2-of-a-kind. They let me play, probably the idea of a nine-year-old struggling to win a game made for adults. They gave me a crash course and the rundown of the best to worst cards and hands. Then, we started to play and I got my first taste of the thrill of betting.

“When we first started to play, I really only had myself to bet off. By the end of the game, I had made everyone else just about broke. My first poker game and I had won. They called it beginners luck, said I wasn’t going to win next time. I had a next time, a time I could go scotch free once again. There might be a time where Chikao could come home and find me perfectly happy. And that was what happened. I won games over and over again and I was managing to keep myself out of the danger. That, honestly, is probably why I’m really good at the game. It’s not just a game, but a survival tactic for me. I taught myself how to survive using that game.

“After a while, they started to question if it was beginner’s luck. I was winning every game without fail and I was nine. They accused me of cheating and I wasn’t allowed to play anymore. Though, I can’t blame them. Anyone in their position would suspect me of cheating if they knew I was a child. Despite what they thought, I wasn’t. I’ve never once cheated on that game or anything like that. I’ve never had the need and that’s probably why I’m not a sore loser. Either way, no matter what I said, they still didn’t believe me.

“It was the night before my birthday when I started to realize my position. I wasn’t allowed to play, because no one wanted to lose to me, and I was put up for bet as always. My brother had taken a double shift just so that he would be able to spend the whole day with me for my birthday. That was all I had wanted. But since he was out so late, he wasn’t there a little after the winner had finished ‘collecting’ their prizes. After that, even though the game was done and I had been violated for the night and people had gone home, it was just my parents and me at home, and no one had bothered to come up and untie me. That meant I was still tied to that bed and exposed for anyone to walk in and see. I do not know how long I was there alone, quietly crying and tugging at the ropes that kept my wrists and ankles down on the bed. My bed. The same one that I was forced to sleep on every night.” Celestia’s tone got harsher and colder, slipping out of her calm mask and landing back in her snappish personality. Her accent started to drop and her hands clenched into fists. Whatever this time was clearly upset her. Kyoko reached out and wrapped one of her gloved hands around the pale ones of the girl that had been through way too much. Celestia calmed down a bit and took in a shaky breath, staring at the connected hands.

“My brother came home and saved me from that at about 3:30 in the morning. He heard me crying and came into my room to rescue me. It was humiliating, to force my brother to be the one to have to save me from being tied down and exposed like that. That was what happened, no matter how it seemed. He untied me and helped me sit up on the bed. Then, he retrieved my clothes from my dresser and helped me into them patiently, holding me as I cried, pausing whenever I would start pleading for him to stop. It was my birthday and here I was, traumatized by the experience of being tied down like that. It was my birthday and I was crying like the child I was. After he helped me get dressed, he sat down next to me, picked me up, and placed me on his lap like I was some small child. It was… Well, it was nice. I felt cared about.

“Soon after, Chikao went to college and any amount of healing that my brother provided for me, faded. I was completely and undeniably alone. I had always said that I felt alone, that I felt like no one other than my brother cared. Losing my brother to college showed me that I was right. I was truly alone. 4th grade was the hardest year of my life. I lost all of my friends except for one and the Friday night bets didn’t stop. Some days after the bets, I would spend the entirety of Saturday and part of Sunday tied down and stripped because no one wanted to bother with me. I was lucky that Chikao came home every Sunday afternoon. He knew that if I didn’t come running the minute he opened the door, I was still tied down. Then, he’d come to my rescue like he always did.

“I never really understood why my brother did the things he did for me. Why did he choose to raise me? Why did he teach me how to walk and talk? Why did he take me to school every day? Why did he come to save me like I always knew he would? Why would he? It wasn’t his job. I wasn’t his responsibility, and yet, he did. I will never understand why he came home every Sunday to come to untie me if I needed. Why would he help me off the bed and into a bath? Why would he do any of this?”

Kyoko stayed silent, gently rubbing a soft circle on the back of Celestia’s hand in a calming manner with her gloved thumb. She was trying to process everything that her friend was retelling to her. Sure, this is what she had expected when she heard Chikao’s story, but hearing it from the victim really did a number on her heart. Celestia’s life was far from expected, considering the girl acted like a spoiled brat whenever she got the chance, but her voice sounded so broken, so raw. Kyoko was forced to believe every word that she had said. There was no hint of lies coming from her. This must be the complete truth. She really went through that as a young child and she really didn’t understand why her big brother was her savior.

_ “I hate the way they treat her! They just sold her off because they were too cheap to waste any more money in that stupid game that they played to whoever won so that they could deal with their drunkenness on a little girl. She was, is, just a little girl. She should not have to have that as her childhood. I should not have to worry about coming home to find her tied up and stripped of all her clothes since Friday night because of their dumb game. No brother wants to see their sister go through that!” _

“Because he loves you, Celeste,” Kyoko replied as gently as she could, allowing emotions to flow into her words as much as she could without choking up a bit. The gambler met her eyes. Crimson eyes filled with tears that she was desperately trying to blink away. She only found lavender eyes staring back with such honesty, she was forced to believe what she was saying. “I have heard four versions of this story so far and because of that, I can state the fact that he loves you so, so much as the truth. Because he loves you, Celestia, he was willing to grow up so that he could make sure that you survived.”

“Love is not a real thing. It had no meaning. It is a word that humans invented to manipulate you. It’s a word that humans made up to try and put a new label on loyalty and not really mean it. It doesn’t exist. How could it exist? Because it doesn’t. Loyalty is a thing. It’s where you have a feeling in your gut that draws you towards someone. But when push comes to shove, it’s not going to be there for you. Love is not a thing. If you love someone, it’s going to just come back to stab you in the back eventually. Because that’s what it does. How can something so corrupted be so celebrated?”

Kyoko stayed quiet for another moment, thinking about how she could say something to get Celestia to think about it. How could she tell, convince even, something she had figured was so corrupted and evil in her life, was just another lie that she was telling herself to protect her fragile heart. What was an example that Celestia could visually see and convince her that love might be a real thing and wasn’t as evil as she was making it out to be?

She said the first thing that came to head.

“What about the twins? Mukuro will do anything for Junko.” Kyoko replied. Celestia looked away again and focused her attention on the gloved hand that was covering her own pale one.

“Loyalty, I’ve already said that. Mukuro is extremely loyal to her sister and everyone knows that. And if you want to use that as an excuse to try to convince me, it won’t work. Junko abused Mukuro for years. It’s more of a case of Stockholm Syndrome than anything.”

“Mukuro stayed and endured all that because she loved Junko so much that she was willing to do anything for her. And Junko. She looked at the damage she was doing to her sister and was shocked by how much she could hurt someone. She changed. You’ve seen it. You were there when we discovered the truth behind the sisters’ relationship. You saw how broken Junko was after that. And you’ve seen how much she’s trying to change for Mukuro. What do you call that?”

“Karma. A wake-up call. How could it be love when love is what corrupted the relationship in the first place?”

“Because love is a mysterious and powerful force. I can’t force you to believe me. But I can try to show you. Until then, will you believe me if I say that I’ll stay loyal to you?” Celestia raised her head to look Kyoko in the eyes, her body going stiff and the hand under the gloved one of her friend’s was clenched into a fist. Emotions flashed through her eyes. Worry. Fear. Anxiety. Distrust. The Celestia mask was gone. The girl sitting across from Kyoko was Taeko Yasuhiro, the same girl who had been through so many awful things. She was looking at Kyoko right in the eyes. This was the first time Kyoko was seeing her. This was the first time she had been her gothic friend look so broken.

Kyoko didn’t know where her words had come from. She didn’t know what she was saying. She didn’t understand where she had learned these words. She only knew that she meant them. Kyoko wasn’t the type to speak much and everyone knew that. She wasn’t one to talk about emotions that much, even though she did believe they existed. She never showed her emotions. She was taught not too. So why was she doing it now? Did she trust her? Or, was it something different.

“I… I don’t even trust myself…” Celestia responded quietly, looking down at their hands once again. “I’m an awful person. I ruin lives for the pure bliss of it. I hide farther and farther in myself to cover up all the imperfections. I don’t let the mask fall… No one wants to see me like that.” This was Taeko speaking, relaying everything that she was feeling. Celestia would have laughed it off, shook her head, and called them all silly for thinking such things. How long had she been lying to herself to hide this much about her?

“Celes… Hey, Taeko, look at me,” Kyoko said gently. This time, Celestia did not snap at her. This time, Celestia did not get mad. Instead, she followed the command and looked up at Kyoko, her eyes trying to blink back the tears. Kyoko gave her hand a squeeze and smiled a small, comforting smile. “It’s okay, okay? You told this to the right person. If you want, we can put an end to your parents’ abuse. I can make sure they’ll be behind bars for a long time if that’s what you want. Then, we’re going to fix this identity crisis of yours. I want to be there for you every moment I can, okay? You don’t have to go through this alone. You’re not alone. You have me and your brother and the twins and Yamada and the rest of our class as well. You have friends. If you don’t want to come out and tell them all of this, that’s fine, but you know what, they’ll love you the same no matter what you said.”

“Kyoko…” Her voice broke. Celestia hand twisted underneath Kyoko’s and she gripped her wrist tightly, biting her black bottom lip so tightly to contain the cries that wanted to come out. Kyoko squeezed her hand back before getting up from her seat at the booth and sitting down next to Celestia’s. This feeling was definitely something else. It was the desire to make sure that whoever had hurt her friend was behind bars. It was the desire to make sure that Celestia would never have to go through that again. It was love. Celestia might not see it yet, she might not understand the feeling of love, but Kyoko did and she wanted to make sure that Celestia would be able to learn the difference.

Kyoko let go of Celestia’s wrist before pulling her into a hug. Celestia refused to let go at first, but soon, she allowed herself to be hugged and she wrapped her own arms around the detective’s waist. A few, quiet sobs escaped the female’s lips, but she kept them to herself. The two of them just hugged, Kyoko laying her head on the raven girl’s. Celestia was Celestia, but she was also Taeko Yasuhiro. Two very different personalities all rooted in the same maltreatment. But it would be okay. After all, Kyoko wasn’t about to let her suffer anymore.

Later that day, as Kyoko was making her reports and filing her suits against the Yasuhiro's, her phone buzzed. Confused, she looked down at it and sighed when she realized it was Junko and she had sent an image. Whatever it was, didn’t sound all that fun. She opened it up to be faced with a picture from earlier. A back shot of Celestia and Kyoko hugging. It came captioned with ‘#ThisIsWhyYouHaveASoldierForASister’. Kyoko gritted her teeth and was about to send a response, but Celestia beat her to it.

**Ace, Queen:** JUNKO ENOSHIMA, MUKURO IKUSABA, I AM GOING TO F-ING KILL YOU!!!

**Author's Note:**

> No One Knows It's You, Miss Jackson is my baby. I spent two weeks writing this, it's 25 pages on my Google Docs, and it's 13,451 words. Honestly, I loved making this one so much because it seemed to really fit my idea of her character, so I just had to make it. There are more stories in this universe, and Miss Jackson is not the first, so if you're enjoying this universe, please keep an eye out for the rest!


End file.
